POWER
by MAT23LUV
Summary: On the path to becoming a Shinigami, Karin will discover her incredible power and battle new enemies. As well as her feelings for Toshiro. RATING MAY CHANGE
1. Shoot

The girl walked lazily along the street, soccer ball under one arm with her water ball in her left hand. She wondered while she walked, "Next time he comes, I'll get him watermelon-flavored frozen yoghurt."

As she passed an alley, three figures caught her eye. She paused and realized what she had seen. Two men cornering a lady, one of them wield a knife and the other a gun: the lady looked wealthy, a crocodile-skin purse, satin dress, pearl necklace and small diamond ring.

Enraged that two guys were picking on a woman like this, Karin let her reckless, do-first-think-later-self take over.

As quietly as she could, she put down her ball and aimed, the lady's eyes widened at her but she said nothing.

With a smug grin, she kicked the ball but added no reistsu. It hit the guy with the gun's head and he fell over, only to hit his forehead on a dumpster and pass out. The guy with the knife turned and cursed at the raven-haired girl. He came at her with his knife in one hand- she dodged it easily before leaping into the air and kicking his head subsequently knocking him out.

Just then an average hollow leaped down from the building across the street of the alley and charged forward. Cursing under her breath, she took a few steps back and focused some reistsu into her soccer ball before aiming it at the hollow's neck. The target sped up and it ended up hitting its stomach but that alone made the hollow slow down. Still muttering under her breath with language that would make a sailor proud, she took a running start before jumping on the dumpster and leaping into the air: kicking the hollow with as much reistsu she could muster and defeating it.

When she landed on the ground the man with the knife stirred and she gave him another good kick in the head before turning to check on the guy with the gun.

Her last word: "Shoot."


	2. Captain's Meeting

The Tenth Division Captain was in the process of yelling his lieutenant's name when a hell butterfly arrived and announced that all captains were to report to 1st Division for a Captain's Meeting immediately. Wondering what could have happened he gave the strawberry blonde another warning and made haste.

Once most of the Captains had gathered, the 1st Division Captain, the final captain called from behind the door. "Kurosaki Ichigo Captain of Third Squad and Kurosaki Karin are here."

Some of the captains' heads jerked at the door, Toshiro's was not one of them having sensed the all-too-familiar reistsu but curious to know why she was here.

Karin walked in looking a bit tense but the moment her eyes met his beautiful green ones, she seemed to relax. She smiled at him, "Hi Toshiro." The others in the room didn't know the two had met but were still expecting the white-haired captain to tell her off for not addressing him properly. But to their surprise, some amusement and slight curiosity Hitsugaya's eyes softened and he seemed to relax a bit, "Hi Karin."

"How do you two know each other," asked the ever over-protective Ichigo suspiciously, his narrowed eyes darting between the two. Hitsugaya was tempted to answer him when the Head Captain called their attention.

"First, please introduce yourself child."

"Well, my name is Kurosaki Karin Ichigo's little sister and about an hour ago: I died."

Ukitake chuckled at her bluntness, "A true Kurosaki just like her brother, through and through."

"Would you mind telling us how you died Karin," asked Unohana gently.

Raven-haired tomboy barely blinked before replying "I was on my way home from soccer practice and I saw some thugs cornering a lady in an alley. One had a knife, the other a gun. I've stopped things like this before and this time shouldn't have been any different. Only after I knocked them out the average hollow jumped out and I took it out. But when I was done with it I let my guard down for a second and didn't notice the guy with a gun waking up. My fault for not thinking to confiscate the gun, last thing I did was to kick my ball and last thing I saw was the ball knocking him out again. He fired three times, really bad aim but apparently one got me straight through the heart."

The 4th Division Captain spoke, "That must have been hard for you to share with us." But instead Karin shrugged slightly with a soft but genuine smile at her, "I don't regret doing what I did. The gunshots probably attracted the police and I've given the guys more than one good bump on their heads. The only thing I regret is leaving behind my sister to live with my dad and missing out on next week's match."

Some of the captains smirked at her strong personality.

"You say you could see hollows, can you see menos? The Shinigami, how long has this been going on," questioned Captain Kurotsuchi.

"If I'm right that Menos are the huge black ones with white faces and pointy noses then yes. The only reason I knew about Shinigami is because once when Ichigo disappeared for too long, I got it out of him."

Gesturing at his sister Ichigo, a slightly terrified expression on his face with warning eyes, "She beat it out of me. I still have the marks. Besides she deserved to know."

"After Ichigo became a substitute Shinigami, I don't know why but from just being able to see the silhouette of hollows or sensing spirits, I started being able to completely interact with them."

"Hmm, interesting you would make a fascinating test subject."

"Don't you dare," snarled Ichigo. The captain he spoke to nearly laughed when he realized something, why were there 3 reistsus flaring instead of one?

It seemed that one was Karin who took a deep breath and calmed down, and another with his snow white hair covering his eyes but the hidden glare directed at the scientist.

The Head Captain cleared his throat, "All of you, lower your reistsu now."

While the orange-haired Kurosaki attempted to lower his out of control reistsu, the white-haired captain threw one last warning glare at Kurotsuchi before lowering his own.

Nodding, the Captain Commander looked at Karin. "I understand that you have undergone some form of martial arts training in the Living World."

This question nearly surprised Karin whose eyebrows shot up, "Yes but only using a wooden sword against Urahara," Kurotsuchi's eyes narrowed at this, "some hand-to-hand combat with Tatsuki and yeah, controlling my reistsu and learning how to focus in with my attacks as well as simple kido with Yoruichi."

At the sound of her idol's name, Soi-Fan immediately perked up with her eyes lit up.

"How skilled are you with kido," asked Yamamoto, who was growing curious of the girl.

"Oh, um only spells 1-20 and I haven't quite mastered 20."

"How much knowledge do you have of Soul Society," asked Captain Komamura.

"Um, I know about the different districts, the history of the Gotei 13 the origins of Zanjutsu, Hoho, Kido as well as details of important events which have happened in the past thousand or so years and whatever little there is to know about the Soul King which is plainly that he exists. Plus some background information on the Captains and their lieutenants."

"How did you obtain all this information Kurosaki" asked Captain Kuchiki.

"Urahara, Yoruichi, Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Ishida, Chad and Toshiro told me this stuff."

"Hmm seeing that you were trained by Urahara Kisuke, your technique with a blade must be good and you have all the knowledge…, would you mind raising your reistsu to its limit?"

Karin looked thoroughly surprised at his question, "All, all the way?" she stuttered.

Ichigo gave her an encouraging smile and said, "You can do it Karin."

But much to the orange-head's chagrin she also glanced over to Hitsugaya who gave her a nod.

She shifted herself till her weight was balanced on both legs and relaxed as she took a deep breath. After a moment, her eyes shot open.

Her reistsu exploded. It began to skyrocket and both the Captain Commander and his Captains began counting which seats it was surpassing, 'Sixth seat, fifth seat, fourth seat, third seat, lieutenant, almost captain level…"

Suddenly it stopped rising and everyone's heads turned to where Karin stood, or where she used to stand.

With a shock they realized she was by Captain Ukitake's side with a concerned expression on her face as he hacked into a hanker-chief while apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry I was aware of your condition and didn't even think about it. I am so sorry." With a soft laugh the sickly man replied, "No worries, I'm fine Karin." He started coughing again and Captain Unohana came to his side but he waved her away with an appreciative smile before standing up.

The other captains continued to watch Karin as she was reassured by him of his health one final time before she returned to where she stood. After a moment of silence she glanced around, "Sorry I know I shouldn't have stopped halfway but-." "That was your reistsu halfway," breathed Kyoraku, "I'm impressed."

The Captain Commander cleared his throat, "Kurosaki Karin, I suggest that you enroll in the Shinigamui Academy Year 2."

"Hey wait a sec," started Ichigo.

"Yes, I would love to learn how to become a Shinigami."

And so it was decided that Kurosaki Karin was to skip a year thanks to her extensive knowledge, talent with a blade and incredible reistsu and begin school as a Shinigami in training.


	3. TWO!

He knew there was something was bothering her the moment she walked into his office, her head was down eyebrows pressed together and her left fist wrapped in her right hand.

"Hello Kurosaki," he said in a monotonous voice, to his worry she simply nodded shortly before stopping directly in front of his desk. Okay now he was definitely concerned for her well-being, she would always tell him to call her Karin and what's odder was instead of bounding into the room like usual she dragged her feet.

With a small sigh he put down his brush and followed her to sit on the couch, 'She looks so pale. If I catch the person who did this him or her better start running.'

He kept his voice calm and searched for her eyes with his, "Karin what's the matter?" Her shoulders drooped and she raised her head, their eyes met and he swallowed a gasp at how anxious her eyes looked. "Come on Karin, you know you can tell me anything right?"

Taking a deep breath she said, "Yesterday I learned my zanpaukto's name."

He knew this would happen sooner or later but he assumed that when it did, she'd skip around in joy with that goofy grin he now dearly missed.

"Karin, I don't know why you're so worried but whatever is wrong with your zanpaukto-." Her eyes widened and she held her hands in front of her, "No, nothing is wrong. It's just…Toshiro is it normal for there to be 2 of them?"

For a moment he just stared at her, "I don't understand what you're saying Karin." "Well you see- I know you and Ichigo have one: Hyorinmaru and Zangetsu. But then Renji I think has two: an ape thing joined with a snake right?" He nodded. "You see, at first I would always hear 2 voices-sometimes speaking as one other times at separate times, occasionally even arguing between themselves. But when I meet them, there are 2 of them. Is-is that normal?"

"Hmm…you say that there are two of them- as in two separate beings?" "Yes, one for either element." "You can control 2 elements?"

"Yeah, sometimes it's confusing but I can."

"Wait, I think you better discuss this with the Head Captain, I haven't heard of a case like this before and I doubt any of the other captains have either. Come on, I'll go with you."

AT THE HEAD CAPTAIN'S OFFICE

"Kurosaki would like to share with you about her zanpaukto which she is anxious about. It is a case I have never seen before."

"Go ahead Kurosaki Karin tell me about your zanpaukto." Hitsugaya nodded at her encouragingly.

"Well, in the beginning there were 2 voices speaking to me at the same time and as I progressed as a student in the Shinigami Academy it became two separate voices speaking to both myself and each other. I thought nothing of it since Abarai Renji also has a zanpaukto with both an ape and a snake. However when I finally met them there were two separate beings instead of his two joined together. Again I thought that maybe they would join or merge or something when I learned their name. But when I learned their name it was BOTH their names and I didn't know anyone with such a zanpaukto so I seek advice from Hitsugaya and he advised me to tell you."

"Hmm, would you tell me more about each of them." "Both control a different element and look different. They have shown themselves to me in their human forms as well. When I first met them, the one whom controls snow is a snow leopard and is a girl. Her name is Miyuki and she is graceful, caring and very nice. She is also practically the opposite of Ignacia whom takes the form of a giant Phoenix and is a girl too. She is reckless, fierce but lazy and loves to fight. Yesterday I battled with Ichigo right after battling Madarame so I was pushed to my limit and they told me both their names. But, they said that when I want to call them out I am not quite ready to call both of them or just one at full strength at once. So for Miyuki I call out Radiate Peace Yuki no Mengumi and for Ignacia I call out Flames of Suffering Korosu Honō. They said I must get stronger before I am allowed to call them by Miyuki or Ignacia and even stronger still to finally call them both out. Also: when each time I call either one out, my weapon changes."

Both Yamamoto and Hitsugaya stood there, absorbing this information. But both were thinking the same thing, "Karin is incredibly strong like her brother, just how strong are her zanpauktos?"

The Head Captain spoke, "Karin would you mind showing me both of them, there is a hidden field behind my office, come."

Both followed the elderly man to an open secluded place that was restricted to the Head Captain and his lieutenant.

Taking her place in the centre of the rectangular field Karin took a deep breath and drew her katana. It had a silver blade but a black handle. "Radiate Peace, Yuki no Megumi!" The temperature around them dropped a few degrees as Karin's reistsu sky-rocketed. For a moment the blade shone and all of a sudden, Karin was no longer holding a katana. Instead she held a long double-bladed sword with a white handle and a snowflake-shaped hand-guard on either blade.

All of a sudden, a huge snow leopard twice the size of her mistress appeared and circled Karin protectively before Karin pointed one end of the blade to the sky, calling her back.

She gripped it in her right hand before spinning it expertly and as it spun she moved it to her left hand, back to her right and down she buried the edge of one blade into the ground and a small explosion of snow came from around her. Then every time she moved her blades snow fell from it unto the ground. When she spun it in front of her there was like a small tornado of snow before she pulled it away and pointed at a rock crying out "Yuki no Burasuto!" Instantly a jet of snow shot from the blade, upon impact the rock exploded.

She turned to the two observers. "A very powerful zanpaukto obviously. Can you call forward Ignacia?"

Nodding at the Head Captain, Karin let out a breath and her weapon changed back into her usual katana. She closed her eyes for a moment and let her reistsu calm while steadying her breathing.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, she held her katana up facing the sky and called "Flames of Suffering Korosu Honō!"

Her reistsu skyrocketed again in fact more than before and a ring of flames exploded around her. The flames began to rise and gathered above her in the shape of a horrifyingly beautiful phoenix the same size as the leopard which spread its flaming wings and let out a cry. Finally, Karin's reistsu stopped rising and the flames parted so the two watching captains could see her.

Her fringe hair hid her eyes and the silver handle was in her right hand, flames ran along the length of the long whip. She held it up and brought it down, the crack sounded and a huge jet of flames hit another rock as she called, "Hakai no honō!" The rock split right in half. Karin held the whip in front of her before jerking it to her right. The Phoenix let out another cry and seemed to fly into the whip before the flames died down and Karin let out another breath, allowing the whip to convert back to her katana and sheathing it. She ran her hand along the hilt and both captains saw how much love she held for her zanpauktos.

Karin stumbled a bit as she walked towards Yamamoto and Hitsugaya was there in a flash, helping her stand and walking beside her. She gave him an appreciative smile, "Thanks Toshiro. I released more reistsu than I thought."

The Head Captain regarded her with thoughtful eyes, "Karin, both your zanpaukots are obviously strong and I recommend that you train until they decide you are strong enough to call their true names and one day, summon both at once." The Head Captain watched her flash him a grin and he let himself give a small smile, "A zanpaukto is part of a Shinigami's soul. Having 2 shows how strong you are and the fact that they do not want you to wield them at full power shows that you have quite a hidden reistsu. You have a bright future as a possible Captain in the Gotei 13." "Really," she squealed, then her eyes widened and she bowed her head, "I'm so sorry." The old man let out a soft chuckle, "I offer to train you Kurosaki Karin especially with your fire-type Ignacia, so that you may learn their full power."

For a moment she just gaped at him. "Thank you so much Head Captain, I accept your offer. Words cannot come close to describe my gratitude."

"And as for Miyuki, I believe I may be of some assistance in training you Karin," said Toshiro as he stepped forward and gave her a small smile.

'Ah, so Toshiro is finally smiling. That girl will do wonders for him I know,' thought the Head Captain. "You are welcome to use this field for your training."

Both bowed, gave their thanks and left, leaving Yamamoto to meditate among the destroyed rocks.

The moment the 2 of them left 1st division, Matsumoto and Kurosaki were there to question them.

"Taicho, why were you in there with Karin hmm?"

"Oi Karin, just now that reistsu was yours right? When did you get so strong. And hang on, Toshiro? WHY THE HECK WERE YOU THERE WITH HER?!"

Rangiku gasped, "Don't tell me you went in there so he could join you in holy matrimony!"

"WHAT? Karin you're marrying HIM?"

"OI! Rangiku quit getting such weird ideas and Ichigo relax, I'm only like 16. I won't be getting married well at least not until I leave Shinigami Academy."

"Okay, then what were you in there for then? Hmm?"

Glancing slightly at Toshiro Karin said, "I learned the name of my zanpaukto. She's a snow type and I was going to ask Toshiro to help me train."

"So why were you in 1st division with him then," questioned Rangiku with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh well, I wanted to tell him as soon as possible so that when some other people propose to train me I could already say he was. He just happened to be meeting with the Head Captain so I waited for him outside the office," she ended with a shrug.

"And why were you there Taicho," said Rangiku as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I had to clear some things with Head Captain."

"What kind of things?"

"This and that Matsumoto."

"Taicho you don't just clear this and that with the Head Captain."

"Fine, it was possibly about how lenient we captains are with our fukutaichos and their responsibilities."

The strawberry blonde immediately shrunk back while chuckling nervously.

"Well then how come I felt my sister's reistsu flare up twice while you were in there."

"You ask her."

Shooting a small glare at him Karin spoke nonchalantly, "I only recently learned my zanpaukto's name and occasionally drift off when I speak in my inner world. While I drift off I guess I let my reistsu rise a bit."

"A bit is an understatement, I think-hang on. Darn he's coming! Let's go, Kenpachi probably sensed your reistsu. Run Karin."


	4. Breaking Barriers and Spilling Secrets

LATER

After sensing around for anyone else's reistsu, Karin slid into his office and walked over to him. "Thanks for not telling them back there Toshiro."

"No problem but why don't you want to tell others?" She shrugged, "I just don't want this to be a big deal. Only you, Head Captain and my form teacher knows. It's bad enough some of the other students keep expecting me to do so well because of my family ties to the Gotei 13, I don't want another reason to stick out."

Nodding he resumed his paper work. She wandered around his office for a while before leaning against the couch facing him, "So when do you want to train Toshiro."

"How about…right now," he stood up and all of a sudden she was coming at him. For a second he just stood there stock still.

"Thanks Toshiro, for everything," she whispered as she hugged him.

Tentatively, he raised his arms and hugged her back. When they pulled apart she had that goofy grin on her face, "Come on lets go train."

SOME YEARS LATER

Hitsugaya smiled as he watched Karin attack the Head Captain relentlessly with her fire-type zanpaukto Ignacia. She had obviously grown stronger, faster and all together more powerful. Her graduation ceremony from Shinigami Academy would be held at the end of the year and though she should actually be studying, Karin was a star pupil. These things came naturally to her and furthermore, whenever she was really stuck all she had to do was come into his office and after a few minutes of begging, he'd help explain it to her.

Now Karin backed off for a while from Yamamoto and Hitsugaya knew what was coming. Lately, though she still wasn't able or allowed to summon both zanpauktos she could switch between them much faster and if she built up enough reistsu, she was able to combine both elements to fire a frighteningly strong mixture of fire and snow. No one else except they knew- a miracle that they were able to keep the secret so long, her training sessions with Yamamoto were told to others as more training with him or studying.

Suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts when a ginormous reistsu sent him to his knees, gasping at its enormity. With a start, he realised it was coming from Karin. She stood there with her katana drawn and raised above her head the spiritual energy coming off her in huge waves. Then with a huge cry she shot an unbelievable jet of snow with fire swirling around it towards Yamamoto whose eyes, for once, were bulging. Knowing how bad the damage would be if he dodged, the old man set up a dozen Kido shields and created a shield of flames around him. Then…the blast hit. It broke through the Kido spells and hit the fiery shield head on. The shield disappeared but the only damage the Head Captain took was being pushed back a few meters.

Then as the smoke cleared Toshiro spotted Karin and shunpo-ing forward he caught her in his arms. She was out cold but that wasn't the worrying thing, her reistsu was rising dramatically and it wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

All of a sudden, the other 12 captains and some friends: Rukia, Renji, Momo, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Rangiku were all there. Ichigo was kneeling beside Karin with Unohana immediately.

"What the hell, that crazy spiritual energy was…Karin," gasped Renji.

"What the hell happened to my sister Toshiro," screamed Ichigo, his eyes glaring accusingly at the white-haired captain.

The outrageous look in his eyes turned to shock when he saw the complete and utter worry and devastation in Hitsugaya's eyes.

"Were you fighting her Hitsugaya-taicho," asked Rukia.

"No he wasn't," gasped Soi-Fan, "she was fighting Head Captain-Why?"

"I can't find anything wrong with her," said the Fourth Division Captain, "she's in pain but I can't tell why."

"Her reistsu is going crazy," breathed Matsumoto.

Suddenly 2 women appeared beside Karin. One had short purple hair with tanned skin and fierce blue eyes dressed in a soccer uniform barefoot. The other had waist-length white hair, pale skin and huge grey eyes wearing a long-sleeve turtle-neck white dress which trailed behind her.

"Who the hell are you two," demanded Ichigo as Unohana got up and let the two women study Karin.

"Be quiet fool," the one with short hair snarled as the other held her hand on Karin's forehead.

"Okay, shouldn't be long now till she breaks the final barrier Ignacia."

"No choice?" The other shook her head before shoving aside Ichigo and picking Karin up.

"Hey where are you taking her," he demanded but the two ignored him. The others gripped their zanpauktos but the Head Captain cleared his throat, "Hold back and give them space."

While Ichigo glared at the old man the one with long hair turned to Hitsugaya, "Toshiro come here."

Some of the others restrained Ichigo as the white-haired captain rushed there without hesitance.

The short-haired one grabbed his wrist, "Clear your mind and hold her hand."

He did as he was told, the moment his hand touched hers he gasped. In the distance, Matsumoto called out his name. Then he jerked his hand back to stare at the raven-haired girl in front of him. Nodding sharply at the 2 women he stood up and backed off.

The next second a blood-curling scream came from Karin and her reistsu exploded again. Everyone in Seireitei and the first 2 districts fell to their knees, except Head Captain at the killer reistsu.

AN HOUR LATER

Head Captain Yamamoto had called together a meeting for all Captains and Lieutenants as well as everyone else present during Karin's temporary black-out. Karin sat in a chair between him and the standing Hitsugaya.

"Now I'm sure that we all want an explanation so allow me to explain why I was sparring with Kurosaki Karin."

"Damn right we do," muttered Ichigo.

Ignoring him the old man continued. "Some years ago when Karin learned her zanpaukto's name she approached Hitsugaya for help concerning the matter who then accompanied her here to ask for my opinion in the case. Karin had 2 zanpauktos, one you are aware of, a snow type named Miyuki. But it seemed there was another separate being named Ignacia a fire-type. Having two zanpauktos also meant she had two Shikai forms. One is Miyuki in which you have seen her double-bladed katana in sparring matches. However, she also has a fire-type so I have been training Ignacia with her and Hitsugaya trains with her snow-type. Ignacia's Shikai form is a whip. Now as you know a zanpaukto is part of the Shinigami's soul and the bare fact that Kurosaki Karin has two shows how strong she is. Not only that, but if you have noticed instead of calling out their names when doing her Shikai Karin does not say Miyuki or Ignacia she uses different names." He turned to the raven-haired girl beside him, "I know that while you were in pain they spoke to both you and Hitsugaya but I would like you to call one of them out."

Nodding Karin stood up and drew her katana, "Radiate Peace, Yuki no Megumi!" The double-bladed katana appeared and so did Miyuki who stepped forward and gestured at her mistress to sit with the blade on her lap.

"My name is Miyuki and I am Karin's snow type zanpaukto. Since birth Karin has had unbelievable spiritual energy and already had me as a zanpaukto. As she grew her power increased, hence Ignacia came about. So after 5 years of age when her reistsu became almost too much for her physical body as a human, Ignacia and I decided to place certain barriers to prevent her from destroying her physical body. These barriers allowed us to continue to stay as a part of Karin without her knowing. However her still growing reistsu allowed some to leak through the barriers, hence her seeing hollows, Shinigami, etc. So when she became a Shinigami naturally we revealed ourselves to her but did not let her call us by our real names or summon us at the same time because she had not yet broken through the barrier we set at a young age. Earlier today during one of her sparring sessions with the Head Captains she used her full power-she unknowingly broke through the barrier and launched some of it at him. After that, as the barrier crumbled all her reistsu poured out hence that huge pillar of light earlier."

The others absorbed this information and Rukia spoke up, "But why did you need to call Hitsugaya-taicho earlier?"

Suddenly Miyuki began to glow and shimmer before Karin's double blade katana turned back to normal.

"What happened? Did Rukia offend her," asked Ukitake with a raised eyebrow. "Not quite," muttered Karin as her zanpaukto glowed and she called, ""Flames of Suffering Korosu Honō!"

Her katana turned to a whip and she appeared with one hand rubbing her eyes, another on her hip yawning. "Ignacia behave please and tell them why you had Hitsugaya come over earlier."

Blinking as if she had just awoken she stretched before saying, "Earlier when all her reistsu came pouring out, her physical and mental health was at risk so we needed to lighten the load in her heart. So basically, we needed Hitsugaya to hold her memories of him temporarily until her reistsu had fully settled in her body before he passed them back."

"Why Toshiro, I mean I've known Karin all her life so ridding her memories of me should have been better right," asked Ichigo.

Ignacia smirked, "Pff. Please when Karin speaks to us in her inner world she groups you together with goat chin. After family Hitsugaya was the closest and besides, who would trust you with her life memories. I mean really you couldn't even look after a goldfish. Yeah that's right, Karin told us about Goldie or whatever you called him."

Ichigo blushed in embarrassment while Rukia, Renji and Rangiku chuckled."

"Okay, any more questions?"

Hinamori raised her hand timidly, "Yes Hinamori?" "Um, does this mean that Karin is able to now summon both of you at the same time?"

"Well first we want her to try out calling us individually with our true names and chants and if that goes without problem then we'll teach her how to summon us both. If all goes well she should have her Bankai by the end of this year if not sooner."

"What? A Bankai in 11 months, unbelievable…" muttered Captain Komamura.

"Very interesting, you would make a marvellous test subject," murmured Captain Kurotsuchi.

"Touch me or my mistress and suffer my wrath," growled Ignacia.

"Yes indeed," purred the mad scientist for a captain.

"So no more questions I guess," said Ignacia as she cracked her knuckles while yawning again.

"Hang on a second do you know what's the relationship between my taicho and your mistress?" Matsumoto's eager face was comical.

A sadistic grin which rivalled Gin's spread across the zanpaukto's face, "Oh I would love to tell you anything you want to know about-."

Karin stood up with a slight blush, bringing her whip up and cracking it down she said, "Ignacia enough."

"Aww," whined Ignacia as she disappeared.

"Karin, why did you suddenly change Miyuki to Ignacia," asked Soi-Fan.

"Well you see, Ignacia was throwing a tantrum about the lack of appreciation, respect and attention she receives compared to Miyuki. So I was forced to switch or else she would destroy my inner world." Only Hitsugaya and Ichigo noticed that she was lying through her teeth.

"Okay so what do you plan to do now Karin," asked Captain Kyoraku from behind his hat.

"I'm going to try calling them out and then see if they let me call them together and see what kind of weapon my katana changes into this time. Then I'll graduate, see which squad I get into and then work myself up to third seat or so while training for my Bankai. And I am determined to get my Bankai."

"Confident now are we," said Ikkaku.

"Miyuki and Ignacia are part of my soul- they know me better than I know myself. If they say I can achieve Bankai in a year, then I sure as hell will make sure I achieve Bankai in a year."

"A true Kurosaki, through and through," muttered Renji.

"Well then, you may all resume your duties. But I would like to speak to Hitsugaya and Kurosaki Karin."

Several of the ones leaving the rooms cast glances at the two who were looking at each other knowingly.


	5. Vision

ONCE THE ROOM WAS CLEARED

"Radiate Peace, Yuki no Megumi," said Karin and Miyuki appeared beside her.

The Head Captain regarded them with wise eyes, "So what was this vision that you saw the moment that Hitsugaya's transferred your memories back to you?"

"Well after my explosion of reistsu, Toshiro returned my memories but just as I took back the last one both of my zanpauktos, he and I had the same vision. It was a short one but we spoke about it and upon realising it was the same one we decided that as a precaution we should probably tell you about it."

Hitsugaya continued, "We were standing above Seireitei, Karin, I as well as Miyuki and Ignacia in snow leopard and Phoenix forms. It seemed that Hyourinmaru was there as well. The entire of Seireitei was in chaos, there were several battles going on everywhere and dozens of hollows destroying the facilities. The strange thing was that we just stood there, not charging not helping. Almost as if we were waiting for something, a sign or a signal of some sort."

"Hmm, I will have to think about this. This may be a premonition of a possible attack on Seireitei. You were wise in coming to me with it. Karin, for now you may head to our training field. I would like to see your zanpauktos in their true forms."


	6. True Forms

Once they were in the back field Karin closed her eyes and listened to her zanpauktos instructions before unsheathing her katana and holding it above her head she cried, "Rise-the ruler of snow, Miyuki!"

As usual the katana changed into a double-bladed one but this time a huge explosion of snow happened around Karin and the circle of snow began to swirl around faster and faster before Karin released her breath and pointed her blade at a rock she fired a blast of snow which this time, covered the entire rock first and then caused it to explode into various tiny pieces. Karin spun the blade around in front of her as the snow leopard roared above her and returned to its mistress.

She smiled because of the wonderful snow shield she was building and how beautiful it was. Toshiro smiled because she was enjoying herself. Yamamoto smiled because the stoic white-haired captain was finally letting himself show more emotion than a smirk.

Then, Karin sheathed her katana and closed her eyes. Yamamoto and Hitsugaya felt her calm her reistsu before unleashing it again. She drew her katana and pointed it down towards the ground before flipping it upwards so it pointed to the sky and cried out, "Turn those who oppose us to ashes, Ignacia!"

Her whip was a bit longer and this time, the ring of flames was much more explosive and the phoenix circled around her nearly touching the ground before returning to the whip as Karin used it to fire a blast of fire at a rock which scattered into thousands of tiny pieces all over the place.

Then she let out her breath and let the whip return to katana form and sheathed it.

Yamamoto nodded his head at her, "This time round the zanpauktos were much stronger. Do they allow you to try both of them now?"

For a second Karin concentrated and took several breaths, steadying herself as her zanpauktos spoke to her in the inner world.

The moment the two men saw her facial reaction, they knew the answer.


	7. BANKAI!

Nodding furiously in their direction with her grin nearly splitting her face in half she unsheathed her katana again and held it in front of her straight, she called out: "Wipe away my enemies, Hera!"

Her katana was glowing and her reistsu was rising again, and all of a sudden all was quiet. She stood there with her long fringe covering her eyes and in each hand she held a double-bladed scythe. Still looking down she raised it above her head and began to spin it in her hand before throwing it up and then catching it, but when she did she had applied reistsu to it, causing it to transform into two chakrams, one in each of her hands. The one in her left hand was pure white and the one on the right was blood red.

She cast up her head and held her chakrams in front of her before jerking the red one to her right: the blood red chakram let out a blast of fire and destroyed a rock. When she jerked her left arm, the white chakram blasted snow at another rock which also exploded. She then brought them together with a loud 'clang' and morphed back into a double-bladed scythe which she twirled around. After a second it shot out a blast of fire mixed with snow at the largest rock in the field, it was DESTROYED.

Whilst the tenth division captain just stared at her, Yamamoto chuckled, "Well Kurosaki Karin, it seems we have much more training to do."

Casting up her head she threw back her hair and grinned at the head captain, "I'm looking forward to it."

TEN MONTHS LATER

Karin fell to her knees as Yamamoto sheathed his katana, Toshiro rushed forward carrying her bottle of water.

She smiled appreciatively at him, accepting the water gratefully and taking a long drip before spilling some on her head. He took it from her and drank some.

"You don't need to be here you know Toshiro, I know you have mountains of paperwork back at your office."

Shaking his head slightly he helped her up, "Its fine Karin, anyway later you'll end up helping me with it anyway."

For a moment they stood there, gazing into each other's eyes each with a small smile gracing their eyes, holding hands. Almost as if they were having a silent conversation with just their eyes.

Finally, Karin gave a slight nod before turning back to training with the Head Captain. Sighing softly, he walked over to one of the few rocks that hadn't yet been destroyed and settled down to watch the two trained.

'Master, the Kurosaki girl is growing quite strong. There is a high possibility of her attaining Bankai by the end of the year or rather next month.'

'Her name is Karin. And I agree, she would make a fine captain.'

'She also graduates from Shinigami Academy next month, I wonder which division she will choose.'

'Knowing her probably eleventh division, but definitely not fourth division…and she's not exactly subtle enough for second division…she's too unruly for first division…not a chance in hell of twelfth division…Kuchiki Byakuya is too strict so not sixth…I can't really imagine her in seventh squad with Captain Komamura…'

'You want her to join tenth squad, don't you Master.'

'…'

'You realise that if she does she may very well strip you of your title as captain right.'

'…'

'Although I suppose eleventh and ninth squad aren't too bad since they're pretty close to your office. So eleventh squad is a good place for her to be-she'll probably get to fourth seat, maybe even third. Who knows-she just might even become the next Kenpachi.'

'…ninth squad doesn't sound too bad anymore.'

'Master, wouldn't it be a possibility for her to become the 5th division captain, therefore both Kurosaki and Hinamori would be in the same division, hence you need to put up with the lack of respect in that certain building.'

'That is a fantastic idea Hyourinmaru. Yes, I should suggest she enters 5th division. No doubt she will climb her way up to 3rd seat and before you know it she'll be…oh dear.'

'Well of course not every plan is perfect Master- you must be willing to make some losses.'

'But Hyourinmaru when she fights for lieutenant position with Hinamori, who do I support?'

'That Master is completely up to you. However I see no harm in them battling. The two girls are good friends and would not harm each other unnecessarily. In fact I believe that the moment the loser is knocked out, the winner would rush her to fourth division after performing healing kido. They are almost like sisters, those two.'

'Ugh, please do not group Momo and Karin as siblings, Momo is like my sister and Karin is…different.'

'Indeed.'

'Oh no, I just realised that if Karin becomes a captain then she wouldn't have to regard me with much respect since we'll be equal in status.'

'Do not try to fool me Toshiro, we both know that you wouldn't raise your voice at her even if she called you one of those nicknames you despise so much.'

Despite rolling his eyes at his zanpaukto spirit, internally Hitsugaya knew he was right, even if she had called him, 'Whitie' or 'Shortie' or 'Shiro-chan' he wouldn't have raised his voice at least not whole-heartedly. No, Karin was special to him, she could call him anything and he wouldn't mind, if it meant hearing her speak was enough for him.

For the rest of the hour he simply sat in silence, watching Karin attack the Head Captain relentlessly until she fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

With a small smile gracing his lips, Hitsugaya came forward and took her into his arms, gave a small nod and polite farewell to his superior and shunpo'ed off to his office where she had spent the afternoon resting time and time again.

When the raven-haired girl awoke two hours later, she wasn't surprised at all to find herself in the Tenth Division Captain's office, lying on the couch with a glass of water on the table with her face wiped with a clean cloth. Just like she did every time this happened, Karin took a sip from the glass, walked over to the busy captain and hugged him from behind saying, "Thanks Toshiro."

And secretly, at moments of such intimacy between the two: both hearts would skip a beat.

THREE WEEKS LATER

"SHIRO-CHAN! WHITIE! SHORTY! WATERMELON BOY! TOSHIRO!"

Hitsugaya sighed as a familiar face sprinted down the hallway screaming his many nicknames and barging into his office, glancing around for a moment before leaping over the desk and hauling him out of his chair with no intention of considering his poor limbs.

Before he could say anything, she was dragging him out of his office and shunpo-ing away. Not wanting to be seen carried by the entire population of Seireitei, Hitsugaya shrugged her off and followed her lead, knowing that there was no point in resisting when she got like this.

He wasn't at all surprised when he found himself in the field behind the Head Captain's office, standing in front of the Head Captain himself.

"Now Karin, would you kindly enlighten me as to why you have called us both here," asked Yamamoto.

"Okay, well you see. Yesterday was a free day for Shinigami Students and you were both busy so I decided to look around Soul Society. I just decided to go to the mountains around one of the first ten districts I think. From morning to noon I spent those hours training with my zanpauktos and meditating with them. And then…there was an avalanche and guess what? It was so powerful that even at my strength then, which I admit was less than half of my full strength because I'd been training the whole day, I couldn't stop it."

"And the good part of this being…"

"I'll show you," she chirped before walking over to the center of the field and said, "Turn those who oppose us to ashes Ignacia!"

And as the flames settled, Karin flashed a grin at the two clueless men, "Bankai, Honō-hi Ignacia!"

Karin stood slightly above the ground and in her right hand she held the handle of her whip and in her left hand the end of the whip. And she looked terrifying, in a stunningly beautiful way.

In short, she looked awesome.


	8. Ignacia and Miyuki's Bankai

Two fiery wings identical to those of Ignacia's in Phoenix form spread out behind her, flames were bound like rope around both her arms with pointed ends hanging off her wrists. Every step she took left a circle of fire in its wake which went out as soon as the same foot had taken another step. On her head was a small tiara of flames which tucked neatly into her hair.

"An amazing Bankai Karin, as expected of you," began Yamamoto, "what are its abilities?"

With a grin she began to pull at her whip, one hand on the handle, the other on the end of the whip, until it seemed to break apart and become a rope of flame which she threw upwards. The flames all around her suddenly turned blue and the temperature cooler.

"I can change between a burning flame and a cooling one."

She then thrust her right hand into the air and the rope fell to it, resuming the form of a whip as the flames turned red again and the temperature rose.

"Even if I lose my whip, I can still fight with my flames."

She placed her whip on the ground, or rather on the elevated space beside her and jerked her arms to the sides, two thin strips of fire were held in her hands continuing from the ones bound around her arms and she whipped the air in front of her with it. "They can go on forever, but I can't."

Then her reistsu dropped and she was no longer in Bankai form, but back to her normal form with her katana sheathed and fell into Toshiro's arms.

"Toshiro I'm fine, just haven't completely you know mastered it yet. I did just get it yesterday," she chuckled as he helped her back to Yamamoto who regarded her with wise and old eyes. 'She is a very strong girl, a girl whose reistsu puts Zaraki Kenpachi's to shame. But her Bankai was that of the fire element, what about Miyuki' he thought.

"Karin," he said, "what about Miyuki?"

"Oh, she has a Bankai form and I just haven't accessed it yet because well for one, Ignacia was much more excited about it and two, I needed flames to melt the ice but then cooler flames to stop _everything_ from melting. Miyuki told me to wait a few days before trying her out so that I don't over exert my body. Plus then, we have my third Bankai form which is basically the two of them combined, like my shikai forms."

The old and young man took a moment to absorb this as well as the bare fact that Karin was that powerful, it was quite terrifying.

"How many times have you released Ignacia's Bankai form," asked the Captain Commander.

"Only 4 times, once to stop the avalanche, another time to freeze the remaining snow when I realized I overkilled, once as soon as I had gathered enough energy at the mountain and the last time was just now."  
"Alright then, for now go back to your room and rest. When you feel up to it, call me and Hitsugaya-taicho to try and summon Miyuki's Bankai form hopefully before your graduation at the end of the year. Have you chosen a squad you would like to join?"

"Well," Karin looked down at the ground sheepishly, "Toshiro and I talked about it and since I already have Bankai we decided that I would try for fifth division as my first choice so that I would have a shot in building my way up the ranks from there."

"And your second and third choices?"

"Um, my second choice would be eleventh division and my third would be second division."

"Why have you chosen these squads?"

"Well, I apologize for this but I'm not exactly one to always abide by every single rule and I will be quite reckless and unruly at times so I can't really join yours or Captain Kuchiki's divisions and well the other divisions just aren't right for me I guess. I considered tenth division but Toshiro is too afraid that I'll take his place as captain."

"Hey,"protested Hitsugaya but Yamamoto chuckled.

"Very well then Kurosaki Karin, you may return to you room and please come to me as soon as you feel you are ready to release Miyuki's Bankai."

"Alright, thank you Head Captain. See you later!" she called as both herself and Hitsugaya gave a respected bow and shunpo'ed off back to probably his office where she would out of gratitude, help him with his paper work and then almost tradition, they would go off to watch the sunset with a bag of watermelons.

THREE DAYS LATER

Yamamoto stood under a tree watching Karin steady her reistsu and draw her katana. She focused her eyes on the blade and he felt her channeling her reistsu. To minimize interruptions, Hitsugaya and Karin had both placed multiple kido barriers which would mask reistsu as much as possible so that no one would come running again should Karin lose control over reistsu.

First she called her zanpaukto who circled her protectively before calling, "Princess of Snow, Miyuki!"

Instantly her double-bladed katana seemed to get longer and two pure white snow wings like that of an angel's spread out from behind Karin connected to the snow covering her arms and waist. On her head was a snowy hairband decorated with tiny silver snowflakes.

"Okay Miyuki show me what we can do," she said.

Miyuki as it turned out, was very different from Ignacia's Bankai in terms of techniques.

Miyuki could produce snow for Karin to blast out or coat her body with as forms of attacks or defense as well as using her wings to suddenly gain matter and shield her from attacks. The ground around Karin was coated with snow by the time she reverted back to her normal state and Toshiro caught her again.

"Karin, whilst Miyuki is mostly a defense type Ignacia is an attack type, it will be very interesting to see you upon achieving ultimate Banka. For now, go to your room and get some rest. You get to select you divisions tomorrow and the day after that is graduation."

With a thankful nod and a genuine smile, Karin and Toshiro went off.


	9. Graduation and A Captain

It was graduation day and Karin was sweating bullets, she knew that she would most probably get into one of her own choices thanks to her close ties to the Gotei 13 and her explosive reistsu but it still worried her.

One by one, the principal called up the graduates' names as they walked from their chairs, up to the podium and to whatever squad they had been assigned to.

Finally after what seemed like both forever and a mere second her name was called, "Kurosaki Karin, Fifth Division."

A smile made its way to her lips as she walked up to the podium, shook hands, took a picture and collected her certificate before walking over to Hinamori Momo, having to restrain herself not to jump into her friend's arms. It was clear that Hinamori was thinking similarly and over by Tenth Division smirked.

Finally all the graduates bowed to their new superiors and were announced Shinigami, cheers echoed through the yard as they ran to one another hugging and shaking hands, some with tears in their eyes.

Finally Karin hugged Momo and then made her way to her brother who she smacked for taking so long to find followed by Rukia, Renji, Rangiku, one or two friends from the academy…and then him.

He stood there on the roof of the building beside the field watching her make her way through the crowds and up to him. She sat beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her waist lovingly as she played with his other hand.

"Congratulations Karin, you're an official Shinigami," he smiled.

"Thanks Toshiro, I couldn't have done it without you," she replied. And with that she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before saying, "Oh and Happy Birthday Shiro-chan."

He tightened his hold on her and kissed her forehead before whispering, "No, thank YOU Karin-chan." She smiled at her new nickname.

From behind her bottle of sake, Matsumoto saw all this and smiled.

Life as a Shinigami went on easily for Karin, within half a year she had been sent on 3 missions to the Human World where she was allowed to see Ichigo's friends and her father who could see her. Yuzu did not know about Soul Society and had grieved the most but it was nice to see her moving on.

Karin had also climbed through the ranks until the day of her match with the lieutenant of 5th squad Hinamori came. Both Karin and Momo had shook hands and made an agreement, the winner would just knock the other out and no matter the outcome they would still stay as friends. Everyone knew Karin would win, not out of lack of faith for Hinamori but because they knew of Karin's incredible reistsu. The only nervous person was Hitsugaya who had no idea what to feel at that moment.

It was a fairly short battle, beginning with neither drawing their katanas but a 5-minute kido battle where Hinamori drew her blade first and it crossed with Karin's who dodged and countered easily before ducking and tripping Momo over.

Finally Momo called out her zanpaukto and Karin called out Miyuki, cooling Momo's own zanpaukto's flames and eventually knocking out Momo with the butt of her sword gingerly. Almost immediately, Karin fell to her knees barely out of breath and did a kido healing spell on her defeated opponent before handing her to fourth division.

The celebration party was mostly for Matsumoto and her drinking buddies to have an excuse to get drunk openly. A week later, Karin was appointed as Captain of Fifth Squad and being younger she stole Hitsugaya's title as the youngest Shinigami to ever achieve the title of Captain.

But the funniest moment during her exam for becoming a captain was when Yamamoto asked her to bring out her Bankai. They had been told she had one but she hadn't shown either to them yet. So this was one of the funniest scenes in her life.

"Kurosaki Karin please show us your Bankai," commanded Yamamoto.

"Which one?"

Ichigo fell over in surprise before jumping up and freaking out, yelling about this and that until Rukia received a nod from Byakuya and then knocked Ichigo out.

"Both please," said Yamamoto.

To say that the other captains were not surprised would be a lie.

Anyway that night there was yet another party and a major morning hangover for Matsumoto and her drinking buddies.

In those short months, Toshiro and Karin had kept their love for each other a secret from the others. Everyone knew how close they were and often told jokes or implied a relationship but they just laughed it off. Knowing how much time they would spend together no one really questioned it when either went to the other's office to talk or when they were seen sitting on a cliff with a picnic basket between them.

And for a while in Soul Society and Seireitei, all was peaceful.

But all things must be balanced and where there was time of peace there must also be time of war.


	10. The First Attack

Karin sat on the Tenth Squad Captains' office couch with her face in her hands, "Toshiro how come it takes so long to finish up your paperwork with the two of us when I finished my own an hour ago."

"Karin, you're lucky that Momo does her own share of paperwork, Matsumoto doesn't do jack."

"Yeah okay, here I've finished the stack you gave me," she sighed and stretched, getting up and making her way to his desk where he put aside his brush with a sigh.

"Hey, you work too much," she came up behind him and bent down, wrapping her arms around his stomach before placing a kiss on his cheek, "you need to relax more baby."

"You know what I really want to do right now." "What?" He leaned back and kissed her fully on the lips, "Let's go have a picnic, with lots of watermelon."

"I'd love to," she murmured before standing up and walking towards the door, "I am going to go prep the basket. The blanket is in your drawer. Bye!"

"Bye Karin," he sighed looking out the other window wistfully, sometimes he wished they could spend one day together instead of having to spend it doing paperwork and checking on their divisions, but responsibilities came first, for the good of Soul Society and all souls.

Just as he got up to fetch the picnic blanket from his drawer he felt a sudden large amount of hollows approaching and heard the alarm for attack warning sound through Seireitei as well as the sound of Shinigami running around and people shouting orders.

Getting up he slung Hyorinmaru over his shoulder and shunpo'ed to the roof of his squad's barracks.

He saw black holes open up in the sky and hollows came pouring down, his subordinates took them on readily but more hollows kept arriving. Suddenly, a cry came from the dark holes and from all 20 of them, a Menos Grande emerged.

Just as he reached for his sword, Hitsugaya felt two familiar reistsus charging towards the Menos and sure enough there were Ichigo and Kenpachi taking them one by one along while destroying some of Seireitei as Yachiru giggled on her father-like figure's back.

Sighing, Hitsugaya glanced around and saw one of his subordiantes being cornered by 2 large hollows. The white-haired captain sliced the two of them in half in a flash. The Shinigami thanked him profusely before heading back to the main group and helping his allies.

Karin appeared next to him, "So much for our picnic eh Toshiro." "Maybe a bit delayed but not cancelled, Zaraki and your brother seem to be handling the Menos just fine."

The two of them shunpo'ed over to a roof and watched the battles all around them rage on. The subordinates were finishing off the hollows but more kept coming in.

After about 5 minutes, several huge reistsus appeared in black holes and the Menos stopped pouring out. Hitsugaya counted them, "13, one for each captain I guess."

Indeed, from each of the 13 holes stood an Arrancar.

"Oi Toshiro, I thought we defeated all the Arrancar." "I guess not all of them followed under Aizen, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said to Ichigo when the orange-haired man had appeared beside his sister.

"Oh well, Kenpachi will end up taking a few on himself and so will I, would you two do me a favour and not attack yet?"

Nodding at him, Hitsugaya watched as only 4 people charged towards the Arrancar, Madarame from 11TH squad and his captain as well as Ichigo and his girlfriend Rukia.

15 minutes later, only 3 Arrancar remained and Karin sighed and placed a hand on her hip. Within seconds the remaining Arrancar were annihilated and people were cleaning up. Suddenly, a huge black hole opened up in the sky to reveal a very powerful Arrancar.

The others came at him but he build a bubble around him and none of them could break through.

SKIP: **_please refer to author's note at the bottom of the chapter_**

Ichigo looked up in surprise at the familiar face standin above him. She stood there holding her sword behind her, the Arrancar's blade against hers. She smirked down at him, "What's wrong Ichi-nii, couldn't handle him?" "K-karin," he stuttered. "The one and only," she grinned.

"Karin, leave him alone this is no time to be joking around. Focus," Hitsugaya said sharply as he drew his sword. Still surprised by the pair's surprising arrival, the Arrancar blinked before taking a few steps back and watching as Ichigo shunpo'ed off after a silent thanks to his sister.

Karin turned around and raised an eyebrow at their opponent, "So you actually sent Ichigo to his knees, huh? This should be fun."

She drew her katana and stood in front of him, "We will be your opponents Arrancar."

The attacker rushed forward and metal clashed with metal as Hitsugaya met his opponent halfway.

"Who are you and why are you attacking Seireitei," he questioned. He smirked at the following silence, "I guess we'll just have to beat it out of you, right Karin?"

He moved aside to reveal his girlfriend charging forward with a loud 'YOSH!'

The Arrancar fell into a battle of swords with the two of them. Finally Hitsugaya fell aside and said, "Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" and charged forward with a cry. Seeing her boyfriend call out his zanpaukto Karin decided to follow suit and fell back as well calling, "Rise-the ruler of snow, Miyuki!"

Smiling together with Karin, Toshiro jumped back behind her and held out his blade as she held her handle directing under his own forming a sideways T. He wrapped an arm around her waist as she leaned back and together they said, "Ice and snow unite, Tōshi suru!"

A blast of snow and ice winding around each other hit the Arrancar smack in the chest and sent it flying. Karin unwound herself from Toshiro and smirked at the coughing opponent, "I'm impressed you survived that. Even the Head Captain was pushed back a bit by that, you must be tough. Who are you anyway?"

With a snarl, the Arrancar came forward and their blades met, Karin's reistsu causing a small explosion of snow around them and she grinned, "I agree, enough chat right."

When they broke apart she changed her footing and glanced back at Hitsugaya, "Hey Toshiro, this guy seems like fun so would you mind putting Hyorinmaru away and letting me take care of him. Please, it's been a while since I've let loose with Ignacia and she's yelling in my mind. My sanity is in danger here."

With a sigh he nodded, "Fine but no Bankai or ultimate zanpaukto. We still have to interrogate him later so make sure he can still talk when you're done."

"Thanks Shiro-chan!" she chirped, her grin taking up most of her face. He looked away with tinted cheeks. Below them, the entire of Seireitei was watching them and he sighed again, 'So much for keeping us a secret,' he thought to himself.

Karin threw her double-bladed up and called, "Turn those who oppose us to ashes, Ignacia!"

The Phoenix appeared and flew towards Karin's opponent with a cry. Its majestic wings spreading out as Karin cracked her whip and brought it down on the Arrancar who continued to dodge it.

Getting sick of simply attacking from a distance, Karin ran to it and extended her whip, it wrapped itself around the Arrancar's foot and as she pulled, it fell over leaving itself open for an attack. She shot a blast of fire which met with its cero causing a huge explosion.

As the Arrancar steadied itself on its shaky legs, Karin appeared behind it and knocked it out with a swift movement of her whip's handle before it reverted back to her katana which she sheathed.

Hitsugaya came over and shook his head on his hips before gazing proudly over to Karin, "Good, you only knocked him out. No we'll we have to do is tie him up and make him tell us who he is and why he's here."

While the Arrancar was led away by a squad of first division members and followed discreetly by a bunch of second division members, Toshiro and Karin were met by an overjoyed Rangiku and a tempered Ichigo.

"Oi Toshiro, what's the big idea hugging my sister huh?"

"Oh Taicho, why didn't you tell me you guys were dating?"

"Matsumoto, I never said we weren't dating."

"Ichi-nii, I don't recall ever giving you permission to tell me who I can or cannot hug."

Scared by his sister's irritated look, Ichigo backed off quietly, "Ok fine. But I wonder who that guy is anyway."

"Inoue should be arriving any minute now with her boyfriend," said Rukia as she appeared beside her orange-haired boyfriend.

"That creep's been given permission to enter Seireitei? Really," exclaimed Ichigo.

"Shut up Ichigo, we need his knowledge of Arrancar to figure out who this guy is and why he's attacking us," the short Kuchiki answered.

"Indeed, for all we know this was only the first wave of multiple attacks and we have to find out what's behind it," said Hitsugaya.

As if on cue, a Senkai gate appeared behind the group and three familiar figures walked out, Ichigo walked up to them. "Hey Inoue, Ishida, Creepy!"

"Hey there Kurosaki-kun," greeted Orihime as she released her grip from her boyfriend's arm and ran to hug Rukia, Rangiku and Karin.

"Kurosaki, the only reason I'm here is to see Nemu, so if you'll excuse me…"Ishida disappeared to find his girl, leaving Ichigo standing in front of his old enemy and Orihime's new boyfriend.

"Trash."

"Creepy."

"That is not my name trash."

"My name isn't trash either, Creepy."

"Oh come on you two, be nice," scolded Inoue as she tugged both their arms so they stood closer, and stiffer.

"Come on! Kurosaki-kun call him his name, Ulqui-kun, call him his name!"

With a sigh, the orange-haired said, "Fine: Hello there Ulquiorra."

Unable to resist Inoue's infamous puppy-dog eyes, the green-eyed man sighed as well, "Very well then. Greetings Kurosaki."

"Great now we can all be friends! Oh Rangiku-chan, I have to tell you about this new recipe I made up, it's called banana and peanut butter sandwich!"

As soon as she was out of earshot, the two males turned to each other.

"Trash."

"Creepy."

They both walked away in separate directions towards their girlfriends.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:__**Sorry, I don't mean to sound lazy but I just couldn't bring myself to write that chapter. Basically, Kenpachi breaks the bubble but in the process gets thrown halfway across Soul Society and weakened from the explosion Ichigo is lying there with the Arrancar looking down at him, sword drawn.**

**Please excuse any mistakes, I try my best. **

**Thank you for reading! I appreciate every view, follow, favorite and review! **

**MAT23LUV**


	11. The Second Attack

Already forgotten, Toshiro raised his eyebrow at Karin, "Picnic?" "Let's go!"

No sooner had they arrived at his office for the picnic blanket, two Hell butterflies glided in and landed on one of each captain's fingertip.

After the message was received, the two of them looked at each other.

"Well looks like we've got to head to 1st division first, sorry Toshiro." "What are you apologizing for already? Let's go."

After sharing one sweet kiss the 2 of them shunpo'ed off to the Head Captain's office for the emergency meeting.

Besides the captains, Orihime and her boyfriend were there, who was also earning some either suspicious or curious stares.

"Well then, since everyone except Captain Zaraki is present, I believe we should-." "Oi, I'm here," grunted an annoyed looking 11TH division captain as he took his place.

With a curt nod the Head Captain spoke, "Today Seireitei was attacked by hollows and Menos followed by one Arrancar. Although we defeated them easily, there is still the possibility that this is the first wave of many others. We need to find out: who this Arrancar is, why it has attacked and whether it has any allies preparing for more attacks. We have also called Ex-Quatro Espada Ulquiorra and Inoue Orihime for any information on this Arrancar. But firstly, Kurosaki Karin and Hitsugaya Toshiro, what did you think of it while battling?"

All heads turned to Karin who simply said, "Durable. Not too shabby on the footwork and lousy cero."

Hitsugaya continued, "During the battle he neither said nor revealed anything. He was skilled with the sword but did not seem to be able to have a…"

"Excuse my interruption, but did this Arrancar have its mask on its right shoulder blade with short blonde hair and walking barefoot?"

"Why yes," said Hitsugaya slowly.

The Espada took a hurried step forward eagerly, "Where is it being held hostage, please hurry!"

"Um, in our cells on the other side of this division but-."

In a flash the Arrancar was gone and the rest followed.

When they found him he stood in front of the jail cell with his finger pointed at the Arrancar.

"Ulquiorra, stop! What are you doing," cried Orihime as she went to his side. He turned sharply to the captains.

"We must kill him now or else he will kill us all. This was one of Aizen's plans, to send an Arrancar to Seireitei, get it captured and then it will explode upon interrogation time, leaving this place open for the second wave of attacks. Hurry, the second wave will be three times as the first wave and we must kill him before he…"

With a cry, Ichigo had suddenly broken into the jail and slashed the Arrancar to two.

There was a scary silence as everyone glared accusingly at the orange-head male who in his defence said, "What, he was glowing."

"Trash," muttered Ulquiorra, "it takes the Arrancar half an hour to build up enough energy. I was about to propose we move it to a safer location because upon realising that the bomb failed, the next Arrancar will make the amount of hollows attacking increase so as to better the chances of succeeding. Aizen cancelled this plan in the end and decided to kidnap Orihime instead."

All Ichigo could say was: Oh.

"How much time do we have until the next wave," asked Soi-Fan.

"With the bomb eliminated, the process will be speed up. If we're lucky we have at least 5 minutes but with the lack of Aizen at the command, I cannot be sure."

Suddenly everyone's heads turned up as outside in the sky, several black holes appeared and hollows began pouring out by the dozen. Then, Menos started appearing in pairs.

Everyone made their way outside, Captains Kenpachi and Ichigo went off to take out the Menos.

The Head Captain began speaking as well, "Based on what Ulquiorra said, I believe the next Arrancar will be much stronger am I right?"

The Arrancar nodded, "The thing is, this Arrancar rivals that if the collected power of the Espada."

"WHAT," shouted Inoue.

Ulquiorra continued, "This Arrancar-or rather this Espada was one who was created by Aizen to be both a worthy sparring opponent and to wipe out at least half the captains. However, it went out of control and was banished from both Hueco Mondo and Aizen's mind."

As if on cue, a huge reistsu appeared in a new hole as the holes closed up. There stood the dreaded Arrancar. He had shoulder-length wavy black hair and was in the Espada white uniform with his hollow mask covering his entire left shoulder.

SKIP: please refer to author's note at the bottom, sorry about this

Mikhail smirked down at the captains lying on the ground before him, "Is this all that the grand Captains and ex-Quatro Espada are made of?"

A shaky Hitsugaya used his sword to help him up, blood streamed down his left arm and stained a circle around his right leg, "Don't *pant* get *pant* so *pant* cocky."

He came at the grinning black-haired Arrancar with a grimace but was knocked away easily.

"My first kill today," he grinned as he raised his sword and brought it down.

There was a flash and Hitsugaya was gone, he lay a few meters away in a raven-haired woman's arms who cradled him gently, "Toshiro," she whispered.

He reached up and stroked her cheek lovingly, "Karin I knew you'd come." Then he passed out.

She stood up slowly and turned to face Mikhail, her untied hair flowing in the wind and her long fringe covering her eyes she unsheathed her katana slowly.

"So you are Karin, the girl who the others kept saying who would put me in my place, hmm. I feel slightly disappointed, you don't look like much."

"Looks…can be DECEIVING! Rise-the ruler of snow, Miyuki!'

Their swords clashed over and over again until breaking away, Karin cried, "Turn those who oppose us to ashes, Ignacia!"

When he dodged her whip, Mikhail's eyes widened. "You have two zanpauktos?"

"HELL YEAH I DO," she cried before realising that her opponent was barely scratched.

She stopped and seeing her stop, so did Mikahil.

"Hey um, Mikhail right. Look, neither of us have a scratch and this is getting boring. So what do you say? Enough feeling each other out?"

Several of the ones lying rendered unable to move around them gasped, this whole time they had only been feeling each other out despite the amount of reistsu being suffocating.

Mikhail chuckled, "I have to thank you, you've finally made me work up a sweat. You are indeed worthy of calling an opponent."

"Why thank you," she bowed slightly with a genuine smile.

They both began to build up their reistsu as they grinned at each other.

Most of the captains had crawled over to a general are and were having a silent conversation.

"How long can she take him," asked Soi-Fan.

"I don't think you understand Karin's power, that Espada doesn't stand a chance," said Toshiro.

"What do you mean Toshiro," asked Ichigo.

"Only the Head Captain and I have seen Karin fully harness her reistsu and not even at full power. With both her Bankais, she will win for sure."

And Toshiro's expression was so sure and full of faith that no one could say otherwise.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****Sorry but I'm really bad at this stuff. So just imagine like with Aizen, all the captains and Ulquiorra coming at Mikhail (the Arrancar) who just deflects their attacks. **

**Also, imagine that Toshiro and Karin are standing above the battle waiting to see if they are needed. Finally, Toshiro charges but the Arrancar quickly cuts him on the arm and leg. **


End file.
